PUBLIC Relations Officer of the Mayor and City Council (M&CC), Mr. Royston King said yesterday that the Government has paid $75M in taxes, for the first and second quarters of 2009, to assist the municipality get garbage collection resumed.

According to him, the City Treasurer, in turn, handed over a total of $40M to the two main refuse disposal contractors, Puran Brothers and Cevon’s Waste Management, which had withdrawn their services to demand payment of the significant sums of money owed them.

King said citizens have also been paying their outstanding arrears, making more revenue available to the municipality.

He acknowledged that the garbage accumulation is affecting 42,000 households, approximately 180,000 people residing in Georgetown and an additional 60,000 who visit the city on a daily basis for various reasons.

According to King, this situation has serious public health implications which caused the M&CC to move with a deep sense of urgency.

He said the Solid Waste Management reported that many citizens have been visiting the landfill site to dispose of their garbage.

“The Council is extremely grateful for this demonstration of public cooperation and support to its effort to deliver service, in the face of this growing financial challenge to meet all the needs of the citizens of Georgetown,” King said.

Yet, he said, there were other reports that a few citizens have been dumping their waste on open spaces and other city reserves.

“Such action could only do harm to the environment and the health of those very people who indulge in improper disposal,” King warned.

He said the Council is appealing to citizens, notwithstanding its own shortcomings in this area of its responsibilities, to desist from dumping their garbage anywhere other than the landfill site off Nelson Mandela Avenue.

King reiterated that it is important for property owners to pay their rates and honour their civic responsibilities to the City.

He noted that property rates account for more than 70 per cent of the Council’s total revenue and, if citizens do not pay, the municipality would be hard pressed to honour its financial obligations to contractors and others who assist in providing services to the capital.

In an earlier interview, Acting Town Clerk, Ms. Yonnette Pluck said, because the contractors had ceased working, residents had started to heap their garbage on road corners.

Pluck said this caused the municipality to vigorously pursue all outstanding payments, so it can take care of its expenses.

She admitted that the system of persuading defaulters to pay their arrears is a bit slow in yielding results and the M&CC will be prosecuting many of them in Court.

Pluck said the municipality is at a disadvantage as, unlike Guyana Power and Light (GPL) and Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) which can effect disconnections when people fail to pay, its only resort is in Court.

According to her, though the M&CC will be happy to have a Municipal Court in place, it is not moving in that direction presently.

She said, however, that it has been more successful despite not having a tribunal to deal exclusively with municipal matters.